We've got some more information about the Sony PlayStation Vita. According to Gamasutra, Sony's Chris Norden confirmed at a GDC Online session earlier today that all PS Vita games will be available not only at retail but also on the PlayStation Network the day the platform launches.
According to Norden, this is possible thanks to the fact that the file format for PlayStation Vita games will remain the same for both PSN and the physical copies, so developer's need not create a different package for each format.
Further, free-to-play games will also be supported. Norden told developers, "You are free to explore whatever business model you want. You'll have to talk to your account manager and say 'here's my idea, and here's what I wanna do,' but yes, you're allowed to do that."
He also spoke a bit about the Vita's performance – while the Vita's powerful, it's no PS3. It's optimized for power efficiency, though it's still no slouch as far as processing power's concerned. The most impressive feature he detailed, however, is cross-game communication; the Vita will offer full support for in-game voice and text chat, a feature which Gamasutra notes isn't even available on the PS3.